Maclyn McCarty (b. 1911)
American biologist
In 1944, Maclyn McCarty helped make the landmark discovery that deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic material in living organisms. Now professor emeritus at Rockefeller University, McCarty's allergies to laboratory rabbits and his daughter's pet cat triggered asthma early in his career. He continues to cope with asthma at age eighty-seven.
Courtesy Ingbert Grüttner/Rockefeller University